For Remedial CSU Freshmen It’s Do or Die

California State University’s get-tough approach to remedial education is spoiling summer fun for thousands of students at its 22 campuses.

At Cal State L.A., Nelson Osorto and about 150 other freshmen are feeling the heat in special math classes. If he and his colleagues don’t pass this time, they could face expulsion from the university.

“My mom was really proud of me because I’m the first in my family to go to the university,” said Osorto, 19, of West Los Angeles. “I don’t want to be the first to be kicked out.”

The fear of failure has students focused as never before on quadratic equations, negative integers and, in the remedial English classes, the rules of grammar.

“If I don’t pass this class, I’m dead,” said Romeo Fikre, sitting in the front row of his math course. “I have nowhere to go.”

Last fall, under orders from Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed, the 22 campuses for the first time gave freshmen a deadline: Complete all remedial classes by the end of their first year, or they’re out.

So 120 Cal State Northridge freshmen--who couldn’t have possibly completed all their remedial work in summer school--received letters in June suggesting that they enroll at a community college. Once they complete all of their general education requirements, the letter said, they are welcome to reapply to the campus.

“You have to draw the line, mean it and not blink,” Reed said.

The policy has some flexibility, however, for students on the cusp of completing all remedial work. Campus presidents can offer another “last chance” this fall if the students seem to be showing some promise.

Most campuses are now sorting through freshman records to determine which students can stay and which have to go.

At Cal State Fresno, admissions director Vivian Franco has put a “hold” on students trying to register for sophomore classes until they can prove they have completed their remedial work.

A committee of faculty and staff has been reviewing petitions from students seeking one more shot at remedial classes this fall. Grades are pouring in from the 160 students who spent their summer in Fresno’s remedial classes, as are students bearing transcripts from community colleges showing that they have passed the required courses.

“The bottom line is that students are now understanding that the system is serious about their academic preparation,” Franco said. “But at the same time, we need to be humane.”

Although Cal State draws from the top third of California’s high school graduates, the university system has seen a dismaying lack of preparation among its incoming freshman.

Statewide, 54% of last fall’s incoming freshmen needed remedial math and 47% required some remedial English before they were ready for college-level course work.

The statistics are even more startling at some of the urban campuses such as Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A., where three out of every four freshmen need remedial work.

Cal State campuses now spend nearly $10 million a year teaching students the skills they should have mastered in high school.

So in 1996, leaders of the university system launched a multi-pronged effort to reduce remedial rates.

Crackdown a Bid to End Procrastination

Unlike in past years, the system now makes sure that all incoming freshmen are tested to determine any lack of skills. Those who fail the placement tests must enroll immediately in remedial classes. The chancellor set a first-year deadline as a way to end the artful dodging of some students, who would put off the dreaded remedial courses until their senior year.

Dave Spence, executive vice chancellor, said this year’s freshmen are completing the remedial classes much sooner than in previous years. He is now collecting figures from the 22 campuses for a report to the Cal State Board of Trustees in November. “We seem to be changing expectations,” he said.

At Cal State Northridge, 395 freshmen had not satisfied the remedial requirements at the end of spring semester--compared with about 800 the year before.

Aside from the 120 who were ousted, 275 were given a little more time. Robert Danes, director of undergraduate studies at Northridge, said some of those students fulfilled the requirement in summer school. Fewer than 200 will be given one more chance in the fall semester. “Any of them who don’t complete it in the fall,” he said, “they will be out.”

The numbers are similar at Cal State L.A., which is taking a more flexible approach. Of the 1,494 freshmen who entered last fall in need of remedial work, all but 216 had completed the requirements by the end of the spring term. The vast majority of those remaining are having trouble with math, said Marshall Cates, who runs the remedial math program.

He hopes that most of the 150 students enrolled this summer will pass their courses and satisfy the requirement. For those who do not, he is designing a special 10-day “intersession” course to run between the summer and fall terms. Students will meet four hours a day, five days a week to get their skills up to par. If they still need help, students may get “one more last chance in the fall,” he said.

Cates and his instructors have not made these extra chances well known. With final exams scheduled for next week, the summer school students are beginning to worry.

“I think there are going to be a lot of freshmen kicked out,” said Ernesto Delgadillo, a freshman facing the deadline. “We have a lot of stress, getting used to the system and trying to finish this in a year.”

Student Robert Charleston III complained that minorities are suffering disproportionately under the tougher rules.

“You’ll notice that a lot of minorities are in these classes,” he said. “If they kick me out, I’m going right back to Compton. I might get in trouble, depending on who I hang with. I’m better off here at the university, living in the dorms.”

Another remedial student, sporting a shaved head and black baggy shorts, confided that the deadline is a good motivator for him and other students who are too unfocused to buckle down.

“I know people who have taken this class five or six times,” he said. “They get tired and decide to drop it after five weeks. But we’re adults now and shouldn’t be taking up the university’s time. Don’t use my name. They’ll kill me in this class if they heard me talking like this.”

Others are quietly focused on the prize.

Diana Alvarez and Laura Perez stayed after class, working on algebra problems in self-paced tutorials that unfurled on a computer screen. With a few clicks of the mouse, each plunged ahead in a subject that gives them fits.

“I’ve always struggled with math,” Alvarez said.

“Me too,” Perez said. “I took this class twice and failed it before. But I’ve done good on my two mid-terms. I think this time I’ll be able to pass.”

College Level Math Skills

Here are some sample questions that Cal State freshmen should be able to answer correctly to show they are prepared for college-level math:

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1. (4 x 103) + (3 x 102) + (2 x 10-1) =

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a) 90,000

b) 50,000

c) 4,300.2

d) 4,299.8

e) 4,298

2. A car travels 80 miles on 3 gallons of gas. At the same rate (in miles per gallon), how many miles will the car be expected to travel on 5 gallons of gas?

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a) 48

b) 130

c) 130 2/3

d) 133 1/3

e) 160

3.15, 5, 9, 3, 4, 12

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What is the median of the six numbers listed above?

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a) 3

b) 6

c) 7

d) 8

e) 9

4. If ax = 2x + b, then x =

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5. A sack contains 4 red cubes and 5 blue cubes. One cube is selected at random and taken from the sack, and a second cube is to be selected at random. If the first cube is red, what is the probability that a second red cube will be selected?

a) 1/6

b) 1/3

c) 3/8

d) 1/2

e) 1

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ANSWERS: 1. C

2. D

3. C

4. D

5. C

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Source: Entry Level Mathematics Problem Book, California State University